accomplishments - aquatic commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/monthlyreport_feb_1963.pdf ·...

14
THE RESOURCES AGENCY OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME MARINE RESOURCES OPERATIONS ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sport fishing from piers and jetties started on schedule February 1. This survey is part of D-J project F20R which is designed to measure total ocean angler ef- fort off southern California. Field work began on the San Francisco Bay project, a joint program of the Delta Study and MRO. A bluefin tagged last summer was found in the first catch made since October, bringing total recoveries to 86 out of 960 released. It obviously is practical to tag purse-seine caught fish. The ALASKA found ocean shrimp relatively plentiful in Area C, catch- ing an average of 800 pounds per hour. The area has not been parti- cularly productive the last couple of years. HIGHLIGHTS Ocean anglers in January, 11,000 strong, landed 20 percent more fish (107,000) than did 12,000 a year ago. Barracuda catches were way above 1962, and kelp bass substantially so; halibut dropped by half. Red tide again is extensive in both central and southern California. No dieoffs have occurred to our knowledge since that in Alamitos Bay during October 1962. Crab fishing in the San Francisco area has been slightly better than last season, but the outlook for Eureka-Crescent City is not at all bright. The sardine season ended with the lowest catch (about 1,700 tons) recorded since 1912.

Upload: others

Post on 06-Feb-2020

2 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

THE RESOURCES AGENCY OF CALIFORNIADEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAMEMARINE RESOURCES OPERATIONS

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The year-long survey of southern California sport fishing from piersand jetties started on schedule February 1. This survey is part ofD-J project F20R which is designed to measure total ocean angler ef­fort off southern California.

Field work began on the San Francisco Bay project, a joint programof the Delta Study and MRO.

A bluefin tagged last summer was found in the first catch made sinceOctober, bringing total recoveries to 86 out of 960 released. Itobviously is practical to tag purse-seine caught fish.

The ALASKA found ocean shrimp relatively plentiful in Area C, catch­ing an average of 800 pounds per hour. The area has not been parti­cularly productive the last couple of years.

HIGHLIGHTS

Ocean anglers in January, 11,000 strong, landed 20 percent more fish(107,000) than did 12,000 a year ago. Barracuda catches were wayabove 1962, and kelp bass substantially so; halibut dropped by half.

Red tide again is extensive in both central and southern California.No dieoffs have occurred to our knowledge since that in Alamitos Bayduring October 1962.

Crab fishing in the San Francisco area has been slightly better thanlast season, but the outlook for Eureka-Crescent City is not at allbright.

The sardine season ended with the lowest catch (about 1,700 tons)recorded since 1912.

Page 2: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 2 -

Page

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA STUDy...................... 4

Bot tomfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Shellfish.......................................... 6

Pe lagic Fish ' '., ,0 • 7

Tuna " " " " ' " 8

Sportfish. " . 0 " • ~ •••' •••••••' '. • • • • 8

Special Projec.ts " " " 10

Biological Notes ......................•....... .. ~. 11

Bios ta tis t ic s . " ~ " " 0 12

Re sear ch Vesse1s . . . . • 0 .. • • 0 • • • • • • • • • • •• .:" • • • • • • • .. • • 13 ,

Miscellaneous " 0 0.. .. 13

Page 3: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS FOR FEBRUARY 1963

Crew of the M/V ALASKA settingan experimental prawn trap.

Retrieving a prawn trap of a differenttype during the ALASKA cruise.

Page 4: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 4 -

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA STUDY

This study:) a cooperative effort on the part of the Del ta Study and MRO, is nowin full swing 0 Our phase of the work is being conducted by Al Aplin and willbe reported on in the Special Projects section of this reporto

The background for and purpose of the study are best expressed in a joint memoby Robert Jones, Leader, Delta Project, and Phil Roedel, Manager~ MRO, to theDeputy Director which received his approval on 17 January 19630 The text ofthe memo reads~

The waters of San Francisco Bay have in the past years) yielded harvestab1eresources of considerable magnitudec The oyster, clam, smelt, herring,shrimp, and sportfisheries each alone has been or is now of major conse­quenceo Considered in the aggregate, these fisheries represent a potentialharvest of millions of pounds 0 (Table 1) ..

The growth of the greater bay area in human population and industrial cen­ters has resulted in reduction in production of what could have been a mostvaluable area for harvest of marine resources 0 The potential for productremains 0 The future economy of the bay area can be enhanced by recognitionof and action toward utilization of marine and estuarine environments fromAlviso to Croketto

Table 1

Peak Landings of Selected SpeciesSan Francisco Bay

Species

C1am~ soft shellHerring~ PacificOyster, easternShrimp, BaySmelt

Pounds

302,0004,733~000

2,000,0003,000,000462~000

Year

19191918191619291945

The Delta Fish and Wildlife Protection Study, Final Plan December~ 1961~

discusses the bay and immediate ocean waters in "Problem 7~ The Reductionof Outflow to the Sea .. " There is an urgent need to determine the environ'S>mental requirements of fish and shellfish of the bay and adjacent oceanwaters so that effects of proposed changes can be evaluated 0

The collection of biological information and basic environmental data isnecessary if the true values of the bay area are to be obtainedo

This information is important to MRO knowledge for assessing value to thebay in relation to extensive dredge and fill operations under way andplanned for the bay area.. The only report of the area is by Skinner whichis rather historical and does not present biological relationships or meas­ures of relative abundance 0

The proposed study has been reviewed jointly by our staffs and we recommendcommencing it in January 19630

Page 5: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 5 -

The area of survey includes waters of San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay,and Lower Delta. The vessel used for the joint studies will by the M/VNAUTILUS. It is planned to conduct the first phase of the survey January­December 1963 using ten vessel days each month; approximately five daysin south bay areas and five days in upper bays 0

Project Personnel from the Delta Fish and Wildlife Study, Stockton, andMarine Resources Operations, Menlo Park, wi.ll conduct field and laboratoryoperations to accomplish the objectives outlined belowo

Objectives

10 Determine seasonal distribution and relative abundance of fishesin the estuary.

110 Determine prevailing envi.ronmental conditions and define ecologi­cal zones in the estuaryo

1110 Determine food of principle species and its availabilityo

IVo Relate items II and III to items 10

In general, the objectives are important to both the Delta Project andMarine Resources Operations 0 The differences in approach relate to em­phasis by Delta Project on waters of San Pablo Bay upstream 9 and particu­lar attention to salmon, striped bass, and shado MRO has principal con­cern for information on waters of San Pablo and South bay, and has notselected species for concentrated effort but desires as full a view ofall species as possible.

For reasons of manpower available, the south bay waters will receive lessintensive study (fewer stations per area) than the environment of principalconcern to Delta Project.

The Delta Project is directly concerned with prediction of changes whichwill occur as the result of proposed water projectso Marine ResourcesOperations is also~ and in addition has responsibilities relating to landfill, dredging and pollution. The methods of survey, similarity of pur­pose, and availability of the NAUTILUS make this cooperative study exped­ient and to the advantage of both the Department and the Delta Studyo

Your general approval of the cooperative study of San Francisco Bay isrequested. Specific assignment of work and financial responsibilitiesbetween the two projects will be submitted for your approval followingthe completion of one or two test cruises to assist in defining workmethods and jobs to be accomplishedo

SIRobert Lo Jones, LeaderDelta Fish and Wildlife Study

sip. Roedel, ManagerMarine Resources Opetations

Page 6: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 6 -

1 0 BOTTOMFISH

Ao Flatfish: Landings were rather limited in most areas o Petrale sale werethe most abundant fish at Eureka and English sale at other portso Goodfishing for English sole was also reported at Santa Barbara 0

California halibut landings were better than usual at Santa Barbara~

Avila) and San Franciscoo One catch of 11 fish weighing 82 pounds wasrecorded at Eureka 0 These fish were 21 to 29 inches longo Additionallandings of 2 and 5 halibut each were also reported at Eureka o Commer­cial landings of California halibut are not the rule as far north asEureka 0

Bo Rockfish: Landings were average throughout most of the stateo In theEureka area, a shift in effort to shallower waters increased the catchoThe canary rockfish was predominant 0

20 SHELLFISH

Ao Crab~ Landings continue at a low ebbo San Francisco fishermen took onemillion pounds during November and December 0

The average landing for these months since 1950-51 has been 209 millionpounds, which normally repre?ents 66 percent of a season's landings 0

Last season 707~000 pounds were landed in the San Francisco area, 86percent of which was landed in November and December 0 This is probablythe result of scarcity, not decrease in efforto Market demands bring anincrease in price (48 cents per pound to fishermen in February) and en­courages continued fishing though landings are lowo

The scarcity in San Francisco and a high opening price brought a changein fishing' effort at Eureka and Crescent Cityo In 1961-62~ 301 millionpounds were landed at these ports, 55 percent or 1&8 million pounds ofthis in December o Soft crabs and large San Francisco landings normallykeep the December catch at an average of 006 million pounds 9 or 9 percentof the season total o In December of this season~ 325,442 pounds werelanded 0 Fishermen reports i.ndicate this is probably the majority of thecrabs to be landed 0

Tag returns in the Crescent City area continued to be excellent and nowexceed the 50 percent marko This also supports the prognosis of a short,poor season for northern California crab fishermeno

Bo Oysters and Clams~ Oyster production at Humboldt Bay has leveled off atabout 500-600 shucked oyster gallons per dayo Production at the otherbays also continues goodo

Keith Cox has completed about one-half of the oyster seed inspection inJapano Inspection Commitment forms were received for 10~750 caseso Lastseason 8,650 cases were packed 0

On February 21 Shellfish Investigation personnel conducted a survey ofBolinas Bay to determine the number of oysters on recently abandonedAllotment Number 570

Page 7: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

Co Shrimp~ Season closedo

Exploratory prawn fishing was conducted aboard the M/V ALASKA~ from January17 to February 7~ from Santa Barbara to Monterey 0 Three types of trapswere fished in locating prawns (Pandalus platyceros) and to determine ef­ficiency of the different gear of different desi.gnso A Gulf of Mexicotype shrimp trawl with doors was used to determine its efficiency in catch­i.ng prawns and ocean shrimpo

Prawn trap fishing from Santa Barbara to Point Buchon did not show promise 0

Trap fishing in the Monterey region proved productive, with catches up to7 pounds per trap in 24 hours 0

Drags made with the gulf trawl produced more prawns than traps from SantaBarbara to Point Buchon~ but catches were not in commercial quantity 0

Trawling for prawns in Monterey was not productive., Trawling off Avila(Area C) produced catches of ocean shrimp of over 800 pounds of shrimp perhouro The school of shrimp measured 705 miles long and averaged 101 mileswideo

Samples of prawns and shrin1p from all areas were sexed) measured, andweighed for life history studies 0

30 PELAGIC FISH

A. Sardines~ Only 150 tons were delivered to the southern California canneriesand 25 tons, to the markets 0 Two samples of very large sardines, rangingfrom 220 to 260 mm standard length (1002 to 1200 inches total length) weretaken from inshore catches made between Santa Monica Bank and Seal BeachoNo sardines were taken in central Californiao

Bo Mackerel~ Jack mackerel market landings in southern California totaled 21tons~ and, that of Pacifics~ 30 tonso Cannery landings through February 16amounted to 2,000 tons of jacks and 180 tons of Pacifieso Periods ofrough weather~ plus the temporary closing of one large cannery, held downthe catcho

Co Anchovies~ Central California cannery landings amounted to 432 tons~ in­cluding 151 tons landed during the last part of January 0 This brings thetotal Monterey area catch since January 1 to 647 tons o Catches have beencoming from Monterey Bay and from the area between Point Pi.nos and PointSuro Most of the anchovies sampled ranged from III to 159 mm in standardlength (Sol to 704 inches total length) 0 Only 2 tons were landed atsouthern California markets 0

Do Squid: Southern California market de.liveries were 76 tons~ with an addi­tional 166 tons landed at Hueneme and trucked to Monterey area canneries 0

Catches of squid from Monterey Bay were landed for frozen bait and forthe fresh fish markets 0

Eo Live Bait: The demand for bait was light since only a few sport boats areoperating at this time. of year 0

Fo Aerial Survey: Due to inclement weather only two days of the five daysscheduled were flown~ Two unidentified schools were seen:> both off Del

Page 8: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 8 -

Mazo Red tide was quite extensive from Solano Beach, north of San Diego,to Santa Barbara 0 In places the tide was so heavy that fish schoolswould not have been visible from the air.

Go Sea Survey: No cruises were scheduled.

Work continued on de-bugging a computor program and on checking past sur­vey data which will be used with ito The program will be run on the 7090computor at the Western Data Processing Centero

Other activities included taking morphometric measurements from the lastof almost 5,000 sardines~

4. TUNA

A. Albacore~ The 1962 albacore logbook data have been checked and now arebeing processed by our computor editing programo Work has continued onthe text of our albacore manuscript; two new Fish and Game Seasonal Aidshave been appointed to assist in this effort.

There was no fishing activity during the month.

Bo Bluefin~ One commercial catch of blue fin tuna was landed at Terminal Is­land during the first part of the month. This is the first catch sinceSeptember 1962. The fish ranged from 15-60 pounds and were caught offMexico in January 0 One of these bluefin had been tagged last sunnnerabout 60 miles from where it was recaptured 0

We have recovered 86 tags from the 960 bluefin marked last August. Thisis a 9% recovery and demonstrates that tagging purse-sein caught tuna isprac.ticable,.

The 1962 bluefin logbook data have been abstracted and processing by one­degree squares is nearing completion.

Co Miscellaneous: Kenneth Aasen, a Seasonal Aid, is the lOOth man to workin our tuna research program since 19510

Harold Clemens is the only biologist above the I level, other than ParkeYoung~ who has stayed in the project to which he originally was assigned.

50 SPORTFISH

Ao Party Boat: Eleven-thousand January fishermen landed 107,000 fish~ 20percent more than did 12,000 1962 fishermen. Major changes by specieswere:

1963 1962 Percentage

Barracuda 6,980 2,168 + 220Boni to 12,668 14,062 10Calif. Halibut 1,586 3,635 57Kelp~ Sand Bass 7,010 3,594 + 95Rockfish 66,390 53,138 + 25

Page 9: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 9 -

Fishing effort distribution remained about 4.5 to 1, southern Californiareceiving the bulk.

As part of a program to attain greater compliance with regulations govern­ing sportcatch records, preliminary layout sketches and an informal bid

I

for a promotional packet have been forwarded to the Conservation-Educationsection, requesting their aid.

A local landing operator asked for ideas on how to keep anglers' fish inbetter condition throughout a long day at sea. With the launching of anew and well-fitted sportboat scheduled for the near future, efforts arebeing made to handle the catch in a way that it will be in top-notch con­dition at days-end. Heretofore, sun and heat damage have ruined manyfish.

A short paper discussing color anomalies and color changes of the leopardshark is under preparation.

Fish Bulletin 122, The Kelp Bass and Its Fishery, has been sent to theState Printing Office.

B. Ocean Fish Habitat Development (DJ F17R6): Due to stormy sea conditionsand time spent overhauling the project boat, diving surveys were not con­ducted during the month.

Work continued on the project manuscript, which was again submitted forediting.

Turner spent several days working with Sacramento personnel on revisionsof the Administrative Manual - SCUBA section.

C. Blue Rockfish Management Study (DJ F19R2): Routine species compositionand length frequency collections were made at all ports from Bodega Bayto Avila. Stomach collections were made at Bodega Bay, Monterey, andAvila, and stomach analysis was continued at San Jose State College.

Fishing maps for the area from San Francisco to Moss Landing were editedand are nearing completion. The text for the Monterey and San LuisObispo county fishing map was submitted for editing.

The skiff was readied for work with new motors mounted and repairsfinished.

D. Southern California Marine Sport Fish Survey (DJ F20Rl): A year long sur­vey of sport fishing from piers and jetties got off to a scheduled if not'wet' start on February 1. Despite the rain and random selection of "lowuse" structures, a few hardy souls were wetting lines as well as them­selves. As anticipated, several snagq developed however they were dis­pensed with without interruption of the overall survey. The only majorchange in the plan required the withdrawal of the San Pedro Breakwater,due to dredging operations, and the substitution of other structures.The complete plan will be written up as a job completion report for sub­mission June 30, 1963.

In brief, the sampling plan incorporates a random selection of and assign-

Page 10: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 10 -

ment of sampling days and structures - with optimum allocation of timebetween the stratum of week days and weekend days, Instantaneous countsof fishing poles on each of the four structures examined each samplingday, coupled with three to four hours of interviews of completed fishingtrips will yield estimates of total effort, total catch, species catchand catch per unit of effort values, A program to machine process thedata was still in the developmental stage at months end,

6, SPECIAL PROJECTS

A, Southern California: The entire month was spent preparing for and con­ducting an exploratory fishing cruise on the N,B, SCOFIELD (6-25 Febr,),Most of the area we were interested in proved much too rocky to estab­lish trawling stations but good catches of bottomfish were made ottertrawling Santa Monica, Santa Barbara Island and San Diego, A number ofunusual and interesting specimens were taken in each area with both theotter trawl and midwater trawl,

B, Northern California: Most of the work this month was spent in gettinggear ready for the San Francisco Bay Study. Four days were spent fish­ing, More fish, both as to species and numbers, were found in pollutedwaters than anticipated, The following were taken south of the DumbartonBridge: shad, herring, jack smel t, Sacramento sm€:l t, anchovy, shinerperch, tom cod, sculpin. and striped bass, Bottom dwelling invertebratescollected were bay shrimp, oysters, and several species of clams,

Assistance was given the Delta Study in their first day of fishing in SanPablo Bay,

Aplin" Cecil Martin and Willis Evans (Region 3) attended a meeting in theOakland office of the State Water Pollution Control Board on April 5, thepurpose of which was to review the work being done on San Francisco Bayby the University of California Sanitation Laboratory at Richmond, Thelaboratory's contract called for a study of the fish in the bay as wellas direct evidence of pollution, They had not been too successful sothey welcomed the news that the Department of Fish and Game was startingits program,

Their water quality work should coordinate well with our plan, and eachagency's collecting vessel would be doing work for which it was bestadapted,

On February 8, Aplin met with several members of the staff of the Sanita­tion Laboratory to discuss details of the operations,

On February 19 Aplin went on the live bait catching boat "Sunbeam 11"from Sausalito to observe operation of their power reel for lampara netpulling,

P,G,&,E has hired Mr, James Adams as a full-time biologist to work attheir laboratory in Emeryville, On February 4 Aplin met with Mr, WilliamCheyney and Mr, Adams to discuss an artificial clam bed planned forBodega Bay,

Page 11: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 11 -

7G BIOLOGICAL NOTES

Red Tide-----Surface water temperatures in Monterey Bay in February have been thewarmest since last October 0 Daily temperatures taken off Pacific Grove,February 1-23, show an average of 56°Fo From about February 10 to nearthe end of the month~ "red tide" made an appearance throughout MontereyBay 0 The crew of the otter trawler "St 0 Mary" ~ working out of Monterey,reported red tide conditions at least as far north as Point Montara 0

Waves breaking inshore were highly luminous at nighto Skindivers reportedthe red tide blooms to about ten feet below the surfaceo

Warming of the waters followed a period of southerly winds and heavy rains 0

It is possible that run- off from the land may have carried certain criti­cal nutrients, such as phosphates, that made conditions favorable for thedinoflagellate blooms 0 Dro Abbott of Hopkins Marine Station reportsPeridinium and Ceratium predominating, with a scattering of Goniaulax, inone sample of water that was examined 0

The appearance of red tide this early in the year in central Californiawaters follows a later than usual lifting of the "mussel poisoning" banlast fall, when the ban was extended from October 31 to December 50

Red tide is also prevalent off southern California o It was found to beextensive from near San Diego to Santa Barbara during a pelagic fishaerial survey (see monthly report for October, 1962, page 16 for notes onan earlier occurrence 0) 0

Monterey and San Jose newspapers reported that a green turtle (Cheloniamydas agassizii) was taken in Monterey in the net of the purse seine boat"El Cerrito" on February 1, 19630 The specin1en, weighing about 80 pounds,was sold to the Warf Aquarium~ Monterey~ where it lived in seawater foronly a dayo Nelson Wo Hyler~ owner of the aquarium~ became suspiciousbecause he had kept an 1~800 pound leatherback turtle~ captured in MontereyBay in August, 1961~ for about a month before it succumbed 0

Upon further interrogation, the crew of the purse seiner admitted that theturtle had been caught just south of Point Conception~ and had been ondeck, lying on its ventral surface, for five days before the vessel returnedto Monterey 0

Threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense) have been introduced i.nto many freshwater areas of the state by the Department as a forage fisho Recentlythey have been reported from ocean waters off Long Beach and at CarquinezStraits in San Francisco Bay 0

Further ranging into ocean waters was noted during the January cruise ofthe M/V NAUTILUS in waters off San Franciscoo Threadfin shad were takenat three stations by a modified gulf type shrimp trawl 0 Two of the sta­tions were within three miles of the mouth of the bay in 6-8 fathoms ofwatero The third station was at Drakes Bay, twenty-five miles north ofSan Francisco Bay, in ten fathoms of watero The specimen taken at DrakesBay was a 121 millimeter (total length) male, apparently in excellent

Page 12: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 12 -

conditione Several specimens were taken at the other stations but notsaved 0

A slickhead (Alepocephalus tenebrosus) was caught by the trawler INA offRedding Rock and brought to the laboratory for identificationo

8. BIOSTATISTICS

Ao Data Processing

Regular Reports:

The statistical reports of December 1962 landings were completedo

The marine sport catch reports were prepared from January 1963 party boatlogso

The marine sport catch letter, summarizing the January catch, was preparedand mailedo

January 1963 processor and cannery reports were tabulatedo Tuna and sar­dine 1etters;p which summarize the January cannery produc.ti.on 3 were pre­pared from the reports and mailedo

The 1962 annual salmon report, No" III, was prepared and forwarded 0

Special Reports~

Lake Tahoe creel census reports for 1962 were tabulated for the Lake TahoeFisheries Studyo

A report showing San Diego area landings and shipments for 1962 was pre~

pared for the San Diego County Department of Agriculture 0

The 1961 and 1962 commercial fish landings at Fto Bragg were tabulated forthe Nayo Harbor Commissiono

A special report of sardine landings for the 1959-1962 seasons was pre­pared for Pelagic Fish Investigationso

Work in Progress:

January and February 1963 market and cannery receipts are being editedo

Trawler receipts for December 1962 and January 1963 are bei.ng editedo

A fishery for miscellaneous species of mollusks and crustaceans has beenin exi.stence for many yearse These were used by sport fi.shermen for baitaThis past year we actively tried to obtain records on this resourceo Anediting and report-tabulating procedure to document this fishery,-is beingformulated 0

Work has started on the 1962 annual statistical circularo This report isto be published in June 0

Page 13: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

- 13 -

Bu Technical Assistance and Biometrical Analysis

Statistical and Mathematical Analysis:

The manuscript describing the past card angling effort survey was revised.

A paper describing the salmon sampling program was discussed with PaulJensen of the Salmon Project.

Computers:

A program was written to fit the von Bertalanffy growth curve to rockfishage and length data. This program is now in the testing stage.

A program to handle the data aris ing from the sample survey of south2 rnCalifornia sport fishing is being written. We expect the computer to pro­vide 1,500 to 2,500 distinct non-zero estimates of catch, catch/unit effort,length of fishing day, etcu, since 100+ species will be separately enumer­ated on about 40 piers and jetties.

9. RESEARCH VESSELS

N. B. SCOFIELD

The vessel conducted a 20 day exploratory cruise (63-l-S) off the southernCalifornia coast and Channel Islands.

ALASKA

On the 7th the vessel returned to San Pedro from a 3 week shrimp and prawnstudy off central California (cruise 63-l-A).

The balance of the month the vessel was secured for CTO and maintenance.

NAUTILUS

The NAUTILUS conducted one 5 day crab cruise off San Francisco Bay, a twoday salmon study in San Francisco Bay and ten (10) days on the San FranciscoBay Study ..

The vessel secured at Redwood City on the 22nd for CTO and maintenance.

MOLLUSK

Secured at Berth 56, San Pedro.

10. MISCELLANEOUS

A. Meetings, Talks and Visitors

Jan. 29

Feb. 1-2

Best met with Mr. Thomas J. Murray, a private economicconsultant, to discuss fisheries off Crescent City.

Nitsos attended a meeting of the Wildlife Society atSacramento State College.

Page 14: ACCOMPLISHMENTS - Aquatic Commonsaquaticcommons.org/988/1/Monthlyreport_Feb_1963.pdf · ACCOMPLISHMENTS The year-long survey of southern California sportfishing from piers and jetties

Febo 2

Feb. 6

Febo 7-14

Febo 14

Feb 0 16

Feb. 18

Feb. 18

Feb" 22

Bo Personnel:

Jano 31

Febo 1

Febo 4

\

(~John Eo FitchActing Manager

:MRO-TI/md3-1-63/75

- 14 -

Burton presented a paper on electrophoresis techniquesat the Wildlife Society Meeting in Sacramentoo

Radovich spent the week in Sacramento headquartersassisting the Acting Marine Resources Branch Chiefo

Ebert gave an illustrated talk on project work to theVENTURA COUNTY KELP CATS Diving Club; 30 attendees 0

Roedel participated in the wardens training school inSan Francisco o

Petrich j Heimann, and Mais met with. Mro Hayhurst atScripps to discuss the installation of a precision depthrecordero

Best gave a lecture on identification of commercial fishesto fifty wardens at semi-annual training class held inSan Francisco o

Radovich and Roedel met with Drs" Ahlstrom and Schaeferat La Jolla to discuss Point Arguello work planso

Gates met with Charles Carry of the California Fish CannersAssociation to discuss the fisheries of ChileD

Young and Ebert attended an annual meeting of the South­west Anglers Button Award Association where about 200delegates were assembled" The Association recently addedthe cow rockfish~ ~. levis, to the button list, and askedthe Department to officially recognize the existence ofthe species in the presence of the delegates 0 Fish Bul­letin 104, A Review of the Rockfi.she.s of California, waspresented as documentary authority 0

Richard Wood 5 appointed Marine Biologist II, Pelagic FishInvestigations 0

Lutie Humphrey~ appointed Intermediate Account Clerk~

Biostatisticso

Kathleen Woodall, appointed Junior Stenographer 0